MALTA -- New York state has made a nearly $100 million down payment on a key component to GlobalFoundries' future in Saratoga County.

The money -- part of the state's $1.4 billion incentive package to the company -- went toward a piece of manufacturing equipment that is expected to be delivered late next year to the company's Fab 8 factory in Malta.

The machine -- or "tool" in semiconductor industry lingo -- is being made by a Dutch company called ASML that is one of the leading suppliers of manufacturing equipment to the computer chip industry.

ASML makes lithography machines that use light to create atomic-scale patterns on silicon wafers that become the tiny circuitry of individual computer chips.

ASML's newest machines under development -- most of which have only been used in research centers like Albany NanoTech -- use what's called extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography that produces wavelengths to make smaller transistors in chips. That leads to dramatic leaps in computing power and speed while also reducing manufacturing costs.

Earlier this year, GlobalFoundries paid ASML $93 million for one of the new tools, according to invoices submitted to the state that were obtained by the Times Union through the state's Freedom of Information law. The state reimbursed GlobalFoundries for the purchase under the terms of a $665 million cash grant that is part of its incentive package.

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The machines are so expensive and specialized that only 10 have been ordered worldwide, according to ASML.

The ASML tool will help GlobalFoundries reduce its transistor sizes to 20 nanometers and below -- smaller than a virus -- and help it keep pace with key competitors such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

"EUV is one piece of the puzzle, but a very critical one," said GlobalFoundries spokesman Jason Gorss. "That may sound like a lot of money -- and of course it is -- but EUV is expected to enable significant cost savings over traditional lithography approaches."

Much of the $665 million grant has been used by GlobalFoundries to pay for construction costs of Fab 8, but the company is also allowed to use the money for manufacturing equipment and some research and development costs.

GlobalFoundries will initially make chips with 28 nanometer transistors when it begins volume production of wafers in 2013. The new ASML tool is expected to initially be used in a 20 nanometer pilot line before being switched to volume 20 nanometer production in 2014, GlobalFoundries expects.